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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

County Employee Charged for Filing False Fire Sprinkler Reports

(Miami
– February 11, 2015) As the Port of
Miami’s Facilities Superintendent, 16½ year County employee Angel Perez was an
integral part of the overall port maintenance staff.His duties included ensuring that the Port of
Miami’s fire sprinkler systems, located in the various Port of Miami buildings,
were properly maintained, inspected as required, and repaired as needed.A joint investigation by the Miami-Dade
Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s
Office (SAO) uncovered a deliberate falsification of inspection reports
submitted to Miami-Dade County for 2012.The investigation further uncovered that when the County’s contracted
fire sprinkler inspection company refused to provide Perez with “clean”
inspection reports for 2012, a new company was hired.While the Port’s perceived compliance with
fire safety regulations reflected well on the efforts of Angel Perez, it could
have resulted in a dangerous fire safety situation had an emergency arisen.An OIG surprise inspection of the fire
sprinkler systems in 2014 uncovered numerous deficiencies and red tag
violations which had gone unrepaired for longer than the allowable statutory
period.Upon learning of the
deficiencies, Port Miami made the necessary repairs correcting the deficiencies
and a new fire sprinkler inspection vendor performed the 2014 annual
inspections.

“By filing
a false report, Mr. Perez lied to both of his employers, Miami-Dade County and
the taxpayers of this community, and potentially put lives at risk,” commented
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.“Fortunately, no emergencies arose and this
investigation led to all deficiencies being uncovered and corrected.

“Employees
who fail to perform their official duties and endanger others will be
thoroughly investigated by the OIG,” stated Inspector General Mary T. Cagle.

Angel
Perezsurrendered in open court this morning, pleading
guilty to 1 count of False Official Statements, a 2nd degree
misdemeanor.He received a withhold of
adjudication and 6 months probation.In addition,
he will resign his county job effective immediately, reimburse the Miami-Dade
Office of Inspector General its investigative costs of $5,000.00, reimburse the
Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office for the cost of prosecution of $500.00 and
perform 20 hours of Community Service. Upon completion of all these special
conditions he may apply for early termination of probation.